Melting
by LadyxB
Summary: The night Luke and Han are missing on Hoth has interesting consequences for Leia's actions towards Han. One-shot.


Leia listened to her breathing.

Deep breath in, long breath out.

She felt that as long as she kept breathing, they would too. It was silly, she knew, but it was distracting her from the tears that threatened to spill down her face.

If anything, Leia knew loss. All of the things she had lost in her life seemed to accumulate in this instant-her family and friends, freedom and title, her planet- everything had been taken from her, but she would not cry.

Not this time.

Because to cry would be to admit defeat, and not all was lost.

Yet.

Her thoughts turned to Luke, who even though he was the same age as her, seemed so much younger. His innocent hope inspired so many of the rebellion to keep fighting. His loss would be a significant one. He was an excellent fighter, but his spirit was what made him so invaluable. And he was her friend. Nowadays she had so few who she could talk to, that she had relied on him so heavily.

She shivered as she thought of Han. He was the most infuriating man she had ever met, in more ways than she would ever give him credit for. When he had told her he was leaving, she allowed anger to wash over her, rather than the sadness that she really felt. It was easier to see his loss as one against the rebellion than as a personal one. She wouldn't have to admit to herself how strongly she cared for him, how different those feelings were from how she felt about Luke, how she often fell asleep wondering how it might feel to sleep in his arms or kiss his lips.

Leia chastised herself for allowing her thoughts to drift there again, and deciding she could no longer take the dark, enclosed space of her quarters, hurried out of the bed. She threw on her standard-issue rebellion garb and made her way through the Hoth base. She couldn't just lie still any longer. She needed to do something, even if that something included pacing every single inch of the base.

* * *

><p>She found herself sharing a silent vigil with Chewbacca in front of the Millenium Falcon. He had interrupted her fervent pacing to invite her inside the ship for a hot cup of kaffe, but she didn't think she could force anything down, never mind enter the ship without the captain. Instead, they stood together, staring at the doors, and willing day to break.<p>

As the first rays of sun broke through, the first rumblings of activity were seen throughout the base. They were preparing a search for Luke and Han, and Leia felt helpless that all she could do was stand and watch. Every person she had asked had adamantly refused to allow her to join the search, and Chewie had to physically prevent her from hopping into one of the ships.

She stood now, still in front of the Falcon, with her arms crossed tightly against her chest and a scowl upon her face. Chewie would have laughed, if the situation hadn't been so serious, thinking of what Han would say to see the princess in such a position.

They listened intently to the radio feed for any news on the pair's whereabouts. Leia had to constantly remind herself to breathe as she kept holding her breath whenever a pilot would speak. The longer it took them to look, the bleaker the outcome appeared. She did not react when a pilot said he thought he found some life form or when he called out to both Luke and Han. It was only when she heard Han's voice over the comm that she sagged against Chewie and sighed in relief.

She never thought she would want to hear his voice so badly.

* * *

><p>When they were finally brought back to base, Leia was taken aback by Luke's state. He looked as though he was frozen solid, a mixture of blue and purple. Luke was rushed off to the med center and she looked after helplessly.<p>

She turned immediately when Chewie growled and ran towards Han as the captain stepped out of the ship. She had to suppress a laugh at the look of horror on Han's face as Chewie smothered him in a hug, but then she turned serious, trying to access the damage without seeming too eager.

Outwardly, he appeared cold, but tired. He rid himself of Chewie's embrace and their eyes met. She smiled at him, and his lip curled up in a slight smirk as he nodded at her.

She stepped closer to him, thinking of letting down her hard exterior, if only for a moment, to hug him. To make sure he was really alright.

When he spoke, her breath caught in anticipation, thinking he was going to say something to her.

"Chewie, I hope you've been working on the repairs. I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I hate this krethin' planet."

Leia backed away from them, stung. She stayed long enough only to hear Chewie let out an indignant growl, apparently as shocked as her that his first thought would be to leave. She supposed she really shouldn't have been surprised.

Walking towards the med center, Leia's anger was increasing with every step. He may have saved Luke's life, and she may have been relieved to see him alive and breathing, but with only one sentence, he had ruined everything.

He was stupid, and selfish, and she didn't know why she had worried so much in the first place. He was probably too stubborn to die anyways.

He didn't care about her, so why should she care about him?

When she reached the med center, she had every intention of staying until Luke reached consciousness. Hopefully, Han would be too engrossed in his repairs to bother coming down here. She watched as Luke was lowered into the bacta tank, and her stomach lurched.

Despite her every intention, guilt washed over her for the things she had thought about Han. He had proved himself less selfish than she originally thought when he took off for Luke, without a second thought. And during the countless trips they had taken together for the rebellion, he had, at times, been very kind to her.

Watching Luke heal in the bacta, Leia shivered, thinking of how cold Han must be. A warmness in her stomach emerged as she imagined him wrapping his arms around her, her body curling into his. She envisioned herself reaching her head up to look at him, as he inched his lips down towards hers.

She was shaken from her thoughts as a medical droid hurried towards her.

"Wha-?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you cannot be here right now. I will have someone call you immediately when Master Skywalker is being taken from the bacta tank, but until then we cannot have visitors."

Deciding she was not up for an argument at the moment, Leia nodded at him and walked away.

* * *

><p>She had every intention of going back to her quarters to finally sleep, but her feet took her in the direction of the fleet. It wasn't until she was standing at the bottom of the ramp to the Falcon that she realized just what she was going to do. She hesitated, wondering if she had the gumption to go through with it, but her mind had been made up before she even realized it.<p>

Leia heard the distinct sound of Chewie working above the ship, growling and hammering away. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

It didn't take her long to find the captain, tinkering with whatever part of the Falcon that was broken now. He didn't look up at her until she spoke to him.

"Han?"

He appeared startled, not having realized how close she was standing to him. He spoke with frustration, mostly at his ship for not cooperating, but also because he was still annoyed with her from their fight the day before.

"What?"

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the med center?" She touched his hand, gently, but recoiled when she felt how cold he was. "You're freezing!"

He grimaced at her.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed. But I ain't going down to that place, I have a job to do." On second thought, he added, "How's the kid by the way? He alright?"

She ignored his obvious attempt to change the subject.

"Could you at least rest, for a little while?"

"Nah, I'm fine." He looked back at her, and his tone was a little softer than before. "You look tired too, you know? Maybe I'm not the one who should be sleeping." His voice turned cold. "Worried for Luke last night?"

She smiled at him slightly.

"Among others."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and smirked.

"Is that so? Worried for me?"

"Maybe. Don't get cocky."

He grinned widely now and opened his mouth to speak, but she held her hand up to stop him.

"Before you say something ignorant, let me speak. You need to sleep and warm up-"

He tried to protest, but she shushed him again.

"And I need my sleep too. And despite your best intentions, you're not getting off this planet anytime soon, so the least you could do is lay down for awhile."

He eyed her suspiciously.

"No amount of blankets are gonna warm me up right now, sweetheart. Might as well try and break a sweat doing some work." He turned away from her to get back to his repairs.

"That is why I intend to help you."

He stopped immediately and she felt a blush rise up on her cheeks.

"How do you intend to help me exactly?"

His eyes were boring into her, but she refused to let him shake her.

"Body heat. It's the best way for a person to warm up."

Han looked incredulous now.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"No it is not, but you better make your decision fast because this offer is not going to last."

He looked her up and down, apparently waiting for her to burst out laughing, declaring it all a bad joke.

"You're serious!"

"Yes."

Han pretended to consider her offer, before taking her arm and leading her to his cabin.

"I think you just want to see me naked."

She swatted his arm and he grinned.

"No one is going to be naked, captain, and anymore cracks like that and I'm leaving."

His grin faded immediately.

"If no ones gonna be naked, then how am I supposed to warm up."

She blushed.

"We'll just keep our," she hesitated when searching for the right word, "undergarments on."

"So body parts will still be touching." He nodded as to further assert his point.

She rolled her eyes at his smug tone.

"You have no maturity. I'm trying to help you as a friend."

"As a friend, huh? Well I helped keep Luke warm last night, but I can assure you, no matter how good friends we are, I did not help him like this."

"I think the situation is a little different."

He looked like he wanted her to elaborate on her comment, but refrained, not wanting to break his good fortune now.

When they stood in his cabin, he eyed her expectantly.

"What?" She was trying not to blush.

He grinned again.

"Nothing."

He pulled off his clothes, without hesitation, and now stood in front of her in only a pair of black boxers.

"Han!"

"What?" He looked at her innocently. "Is this not what you intended?"

"I-no-I-" She stopped talking as she watched him make his way to his bed and pull back the covers.

He looked at her from beneath the blankets.

"Are you coming?"

Her voice was a whisper.

"Yes, I just need to- Don't look, please."

He rolled his eyes, but hopped into the bed and put his hands over his eyes.

"See? Not looking."

She turned away from him and quickly took off her clothes. Standing now only in her very modest underwear, she blushed, briefly wishing she had something more showy, but then just as quickly pushed that thought away. Turning back around, she found him staring at her.

"Really, Han?"

He gave her his best lopsided grin.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I couldn't just let the opportunity pass."

He patted the spot next to him. She walked quickly to lie down on the bed and threw herself under the covers.

He chided her, "Anxious?"

"Shut up, Han."

He laughed, but after placing the covers over the two of them, he didn't know what to do from there.

Leia hesitated, but understood that she was the one who had to take initiative. She sank deeper into the sheets and moved herself against his body. She groaned when she realized how cold he was.

"Han, you're absolutely frigid! How could you stand this?"

He didn't say anything, but wrapped his arms around her waist. She almost moaned at the contact, but thankfully refrained.

She spoke again after a few moments.

"Are you warming up at all?"

She felt him nod his head against her.

"Are you comfort-"

He interrupted her, "Leia?"

"Yes?"

"Go to sleep, would ya?"

"Right, sorry."

As her eyelids drooped, she felt herself sink farther into Han's arms, but found she didn't mind at all. She turned around to lay her head against his chest, and fell into a very peaceful sleep.

* * *

><p>Leia slowly opened her eyes, taking a moment to realize where she was. When she felt the body against hers, she panicked for a moment before remembering that this was her doing. She opened one eye at a time, and looked up to see Han was still asleep.<p>

She smiled, seeing how innocent he looked when sleeping. She reached up to touch his forehead and was relieved to feel how warm he was. It seemed her idea had worked.

At the moment, she didn't feel like ruminating where exactly the idea had come from, and decided to enjoy the time she could spend in his arms, without his being awake. She went to close her eyes again, when he spoke.

"Leia?"

"Mmm?"

His voice was a whisper.

"Thank you."

She opened her eyes again.

"For what?"

"I don't feel so cold anymore."

She smiled.

"You're welcome."

She looked up at him again and found him staring at her. His face looked so serious.

"Han-"

But her thought was cut off when he reached down and kissed her. His lips felt so soft against hers, and she found herself deepening the kiss. He moved so that he now lay on top of her, and she moved her hands to grasp the back of his head, pulling him down closer to her.

He broke the kiss, taking a moment to breathe, and smiled at her. She kissed him again, searching his mouth with her tongue. If he was surprised at her initiative, he didn't show it, but eagerly followed suit.

She gasped when she felt Han cup her breast, and moved against him at the contact. Without breaking the kiss, he pulled off her bra and kissed her from her neck down to her belly. She was so engulfed in the moment, that she didn't hear when her comm first went off.

She was enjoying the tingling sensation as his lips made their way back towards her lips, when he paused and looked up at her. It took her a moment to realize why he had suddenly stopped, and she sat up abruptly.

She grabbed the comm that sat on the night stand and answered.

"Organa."

She looked up at Han, giving him an apologetic smile.

"He's coming out now?" She paused, waiting for the other person to respond. "Yes, alright. Thank you. I'll be right down."

She placed the comm back down on the table and Han reached to kiss her again. She moved away from him.

"It's Luke. He's coming out of the bacta tank now."

He didn't say anything as she pulled away from him and got up from the bed. He watched as she pulled on her clothes and stood in front of him.

"I- I'm sorry, Han."

He looked at her.

"Yeah, sure, princess. Go check on your precious Luke."

He jumped up from the bed, walked into the 'fresher, and slammed the door.

Her mood immediately chilled. She couldn't believe his nerve. After she helped him, after what had just happened. She didn't want to leave like this, but she had no choice. Luke couldn't wake up to find himself alone. She stood with her mouth gaping open, staring at the door.

When she spoke, her voice was harsh.

"Han! What are you doing? Aren't you coming?"

After a moment, he poked his head back out the door.

"Gimme a minute. I need to get the Falcon ready to leave. Just as soon as I check in on Luke, I'm outta here."

He pulled his head from behind the door and shut it again.

She stared at the door for a moment.

"Fine! I hope you enjoyed your goodbye kiss!"

Then she walked as quickly away from the ship and Han as she possibly could, headed towards the med-center.

* * *

><p>Han left the 'fresher and found himself alone. He brushed his hand through his hair and sighed in frustration. He had been so close. When his comm went off, he answered harshly, thinking it was the princess.<p>

"What?"

"Solo, it's Riekken."

"Uh, yeah, sorry General. What can I do you for?"

"I know that you want to head out of here as soon as possible, but I'm afraid to say, I just can't give you clearance right now. As soon as I can get a clear read, you're free to go."

Han shook his head.

"Alright, thanks."

He threw the comm down on the bed, but then thought better of it and stuffed it in his pocket. He left the cabin grumbling to himself and trying to put himself in a mood that wouldn't seem too off to Luke.

Stopping outside of the med-center, Han tried to collect himself. Taking a deep breath, he smiled. If he was going to be stuck here for awhile now, he was at least planning to enjoy it. If that meant riling up the princess, so be it.

He stepped inside.

"Hey, kid. How you feeling?"


End file.
